Method and system for providing enhanced caller identification information including tailored announcements

ABSTRACT

A system ( 100 ) and method deliver audible caller identification information when standard Caller ID information can not be provided. A calling party is prompted by an announcement to provide the audible caller identification information. The announcement may be tailored by changing the language of the announcement, for example, to conform to the majority of calls received by the called party. A special designator may be stored in association with account information when the service is ordered. The designator is read before the announcement is played to the calling party. The audible caller identification information is recorded and played to the called party in a message. The message may be tailored by changing the language or format of the announcement.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09/366,393,filed Aug. 3,1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,341,161, which is acontinuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 09/253,339, filed Feb. 19,1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,160,876 which is a continuation-in-part ofapplication Ser. No. 09/122,484, filed Jul. 24, 1998.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to telecommunications servicesand more particularly to caller identification.

Telecommunications service providers typically offer services thatattempt to provide customers with information that enables them todetermine whether or not to accept a call before answering the call. Oneservice that provides such information is caller identification (“CallerID”). Standard Caller ID services generally provide a customer with anindication of who is calling without requiring the customer to answerthe call. These systems typically retrieve information about the callingparty from a database and provide that information to the called party.Customer premise equipment (CPE) in the form of a display device isgenerally used to provide the called party with a visual readout of thename and/or telephone number associated with the calling party.

However, the effectiveness of Caller ID systems can be reduced due to anumber of different occurrences. One such occurrence is the inability ofa service provider to provide the standard Caller ID information for aparticular incoming call. A service provider may not be able to providethe standard Caller ID information if the Caller ID information isblocked by the calling party, or if the Caller ID information isunavailable or incomplete. This may occur, for example, if the callingparty pressed *67 when initiating the call

When the standard Caller ID information cannot be provided, the calledparty is not adequately informed about who is calling and cannotdetermine whether or not to accept the incoming call before answeringthe call. Because the effectiveness of Caller ID systems is greatlyreduced when information cannot be provided, an improved system andmethod for providing caller identification information that overcomethese deficiencies are needed.

Patent application Ser. No. 09/122,484, filed Jul. 24, 1998 and commonlyassigned to the assignee of the present application, is incorporatedherein by reference. This patent application discloses a method andsystem for providing a called party with audible caller identificationinformation when standard caller identification cannot be provided. Whenstandard caller identification cannot be provided, the call is blockedand a request for audible caller identification is transmitted to thecalling party. The audible information is subsequently transmitted tothe called party.

Patent application Ser. No. 09/253,339, filed Feb. 19, 1999, is alsoincorporated herein by reference. This application discloses a methodfor providing enhanced caller identification information when per lineblocking of Caller ID is present. When per line blocking is activatedfor a subscriber line, the Caller ID information for that line is nevertransmitted by the system.

In the systems disclosed in the incorporated patents, a standard messageis played to the calling party when standard caller identificationcannot be provided. The standard message includes a request for audiblecaller identification. Similarly, a standard notification is played tothe called party when the audible caller identification is conveyed tothe called party. However, such a standard message and standardnotification may not be suitable for all applications and all customers.For example, a customer may receive a majority of calls from callingparties who primarily speak a language other than English, so a standardmessage in the English language will not be as effective as required.

Accordingly, there is a need for a system and method which permittailored announcements to be made to the calling party requestingaudible caller identification information for presentation to the calledparty, and for tailored notifications to be made to the called party.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a telecommunications system; and

FIG. 2 is a call flow diagram illustrating a method for processing acall in the telecommunications system of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION PRESENTLY PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

By way of introduction, the preferred embodiments below include a methodand system for providing a called party with audible calleridentification information when standard caller identificationinformation cannot be provided. In one embodiment, calls for whichstandard caller identification information is blocked, unavailable orincomplete are prevented from being connected to the called party. Aforward call message is transmitted with the directory number of thecalled party contained in a normally unused data field. A presentationindicator for the directory number is set in the forward call message topresentation allowed so that blocking of the called party'sidentification information does not occur. The system determines if thecalled party has selected a request message defining the nature of therequest to tailor the request message to the called party'srequirements. The forward call message includes a parameter specifyingthe use of the customer selected request message.

In response to the forward call message, a request for audible calleridentification information is transmitted to the calling party. Therequest is tailored to the called party's requirements, and may be in aspecified language or be textual rather than audible, or may beappropriate for a business customer of the called party. If the callingparty provides the requested audible caller identification information,the audible information is transmitted to the called party. Thenotification including the audible information may also be tailored tothe requirements of the called party, for example by playing the messagein a specified language or format Caller identification information canthus be provided to the called party when standard caller identificationinformation cannot be provided.

Referring now to the drawing, FIG. 1 is a block diagram of atelecommunications system 100. The system 100 comprises a serviceswitching point (SSP) 102, a signal transfer point (STP) 104, a servicecontrol point (SCP) 106, a first SCP database 108, a second SCP database110, a compact service node (CSN) 112, a central office 114, calledtelephone station 116 and calling telephone station 118. Intelligentnetwork system components, commonly referred to as advanced intelligentnetwork (AIN) components, suitable for implementing the presentembodiment are commercially available from several vendors and are knownto those skilled in the art. AIN components can implement computerreadable program code as known to those skilled in the art. Vendors ofAIN components typically have a preferred programming language andoperating platform as known to those skilled in the art.

SSP 102 preferably comprises an AIN switch that routes calls, recognizesand responds to triggers, generates queries to obtain call informationand responds to returned call information. SSP 102 connects calledtelephone station 116 with central office 114 to enable calls to beplaced between called telephone station 116 and calling telephonestation 118. SSP 102 preferably communicates with SCP 106, centraloffice 114 and CSN 112 by utilizing a signaling protocol such asSignaling System 7 (SS7) or other such signaling protocols as presentlyknown to those skilled in the art or developed in the future. SSP 102preferably generates queries to SCP 106 and receives and responds toresponses to the queries returned from SCP 106. In the illustratedembodiment, communication between the SSP 102 and the SCP 106 employsTransaction Capabilities Applications Protocol or TCAP.

STP 104 preferably comprises a network element that transfers signalingcommunications in response to signaling protocols such as SS7 or othersuch signaling protocols as presently known to those skilled in the artor developed in the future. STP 104 preferably transfers queries fromSSP 102 to SCP 106 and transfers responses to the queries from SCP 106to SSP 102.

SCP 106 preferably comprises an AIN element that stores accountinformation, call information and receives and responds to queries. SCP106 preferably stores account information about a called party's accountas well as call control information in the first SCP database 108 andcan access the stored information. SCP 106 also stores standard calleridentification information in the second SCP database 110 and can accessthe stored caller identification information. SCP 106 receives queriesgenerated by SSP 102 and preferably responds to the queries byperforming database searches to locate the requested call control oraccount information or caller identification information as known tothose skilled in the art. SCP 106 can forward the call control oraccount information or caller identification information to SSP 102.

CSN 112 preferably comprises a network element that enablescommunications between telephone stations 116, 118 and the network. CSN112 can preferably transmit messages to and receive responses fromtelephone stations 116, 118. CSN 112 can generate announcements that canbe transmitted to telephone stations 116, 118. CSN 112 can transmitresponses such as audible caller identification information fromtelephone station 118 to telephone station 116 by connecting telephonestations 118, 116 or by recording and playing back the responses asknown to those skilled in the art. The announcements transmitted totelephone station 116 preferably comprise accept and reject optionsalong with requests for input from the telephone station 116. Therequests for input preferably comprise requests for input that can beused by CSN 112 to cancel calls to telephone station 116, connect callsto telephone station 116, forward calls to a voice mail system oranother location such as another telephone line, and transmit messagesto telephone station 118. As used herein, the term voice mail systemmeans all types of message recording systems as known to those skilledin the art. CSN 112 can preferably receive and respond to the inputtransmitted from telephone station 116. The term input means anysuitable signal such as DTMF tones, voice input, dial pulse input ormodem/fax input as known to those skilled in the art.

In alternative embodiments, other system equipment may provide thefunctions provided by CSN 112. For example, equivalent functionality maybe provided by an AIN service node or by an Intelligent Peripheral, asthose terms are understood in the art. These components and others whichare operationally equivalent may be substituted for the CSN 112 in FIG.1.

Database 108 preferably comprises a data storage element for use withSCP 106 as known to those skilled in the art. Database 108 preferablystores account and call control information that can be implemented bySSP 102 to control calls. Such account and call control information isknown to those skilled in the art.

In accordance with the illustrated embodiment, the database 108 stores aspecial designator associated with the account which defines calledparty requirements for transmitting to a calling party a request foraudible caller identification information. In the illustrated system,all prompts and announcements conveyed to the calling party and thecalled party are presented in accordance with a customer selectedmessage request. The customer, the called party, may specify the natureof the prompts and announcements to be played to the calling party aswell as the nature of the announcements and notifications to be playedto the customer or called party. In one example, the customer mayspecify the language for the prompts and announcements, such as Spanishor Mandarin Chinese. In another example, the customer may specify thatprompts and announcements be transmitted as text data, for example foruse by telecommunication device for the deaf (TDD) equipment used by thecalling party. In another example, the customer may specify that promptsand announcements be transmitted tailored to a customer of a calledparty which is a business, as distinct from prompts and announcementsthat might be made to a party calling the customer's residence. Forexample, when the called party is a business, the message might say “Weappreciate your business. In order to permit us to better serve you,please state your name at the tone.” In contrast, when the called partyis a residence, the message may state “The party you called does notaccept unidentified calls. Please state your name at the tone.” Manyother possibilities for tailoring the request sent to the calling partyaccording to called party requirements may be implemented.

Further, the notification provided to the called party may be customizedaccording to requirements of the called party, as well. If the calledparty does not primarily speak English, the language of theannouncements and prompts played to the called party may be tailoredaccordingly. Further, a text-based announcement or any other option maybe specified. The option selected may not match the option selected forannouncements and prompts made to the calling party. For example, it maybe expected that many calls, especially calls for which standard calleridentification is unavailable, will be received from speakers of a firstlanguage, while the person primarily responsible for answering the phoneat the called party may speak a second language. For maximum flexibilityand user convenience, both calling party messages and called partymessages may be independently tailored according to customerrequirements.

In the illustrated embodiment, the customer selected request message isspecified at the time the service is ordered. The customer may be givenonly one or a few choices for tailoring the announcement, such as achoice of English or Spanish announcements. Or the customer may be givenmany choices, such as those described above, for tailoring theannouncements and prompts. However, in the preferred embodiment, oncethe customer has made a selection, that selection is retained and storedas a special designator at equipment such as SCP 106 throughout thesystem. Thereafter, whenever a call is processed for completion to thecustomer's called communication station, the special designator is readand the request message including prompts and announcements is madeaccording to the designator.

Database 110 preferably comprises a standard caller identification withname database as known to those skilled in the art. When the informationis available in the system, database 110 typically includes the name ofthe person associated with calling telephone station 118, along with thetelephone number that is associated with calling telephone station 118.Database 110 can alternatively comprise a caller assistance database asknown to those skilled in the art. While databases 108, 110 are depictedwithin a telecommunications system, databases 108, 110 can comprise anysuitable databases containing information adapted for use in the presentembodiment and are not limited to databases located within atelecommunications network. It is also important to note that whiledatabases 108, 110 are shown as separate components, they can beimplemented as a single database.

Central office 114 preferably comprises an AIN network switch as knownto those skilled in the art. Central office 114 enables calls to beplaced between calling telephone station 118 and called telephonestation 116. Alternatively, central office 114 can comprise a non-AINnetwork switch as known to those skilled in the art.

Telephone stations 116, 118 preferably comprise analog telephone sets asknown to those skilled in the art. Alternatively, telephone stations116, 118 can comprise wireless, PCS, ISDN or any other form ofcommunication station known to those skilled in the art. Calledtelephone station 116 preferably includes CPE equipment for use withcaller identification services as known to those skilled in the art.

FIG. 2 is a call flow diagram illustrating a method for processing acall in the telecommunication system 100 of FIG. 1. FIG. 2 illustratescommunication between SSP 102, SCP 106 and CSN 112 for processing thecall.

At step 202, the calling party at the calling telephone station 118calls the directory number (DN) of the called communication station 116.The calling party may choose to enable Calling Number Delivery Blocking,for example, by dialing *67 before dialing the DN of the calledcommunication station 116. This will block delivery of the standardcaller ID information for the calling telephone station 118. In somesystems, portions of the telecommunications system 100 such as the trunkgroup terminating the call may not pass the standard Caller IDinformation.

At step 204, the terminating SSP 102 recognizes that a terminatingattempt trigger (TAT) is assigned to the called directory number. Inresponse to the TAT, the SSP 102 creates a Termination_Atttempt querymessage and transmits the query message to the SCP 106 for analysis. Inthe illustrated embodiment using AIN elements, the query message isformatted according to AIN Release 0.1 TCAP. The query message includesseveral parameters as is known to those ordinarily skilled in the art.For the Termination_Atttempt query message, the following parameters arespecified:

UserID DN to which the TAT is assigned (Called DN) BearerCapability 01(3.1 KHz) CalledPartyID DN to which the TAT is assigned (Called DN) LataLocal Access and Transport Area of Called DN TriggerCriteriaType 15(terminating attempt) CalledPartyStationType Originating LineInformation of the Called DN ChargeNumber ANI of the originatingfacility or ANI of last forwarding station, if available CallingPartyIDDN of the calling party (if available) Presentation Restriction 01(Presentation Restricted) 10 (Number Unavailable) ChargePartyStationTypeOriginating Line Information of the calling DN OriginalCalledPartyIDFirst party that redirected the call RedirectingPartyID Last party thatredirected the call

If the calling party has blocked the standard Caller ID information, orif the system does not pass the standard Caller ID information for thecalling communication station, the CallingPartyID parameter of the TATquery message will not be available. The Presentation RestrictionIndicator parameter will be set to one of the binary values 01 or 10 toindicate this condition. This is in contrast to the situation in whichthe standard Caller ID information is available and the PresentationRestriction Indicator parameter is set to 00, to indicate presentationallowed.

In response to the Termination_Attempt query, the SCP 106 will validatethe Presentation Restriction Indicator parameter of the CallingPartyIDparameter. If the indicator is set to Presentation Restriction (01) orNumber Unavailable (10), the SCP 106 will pass routing information tothe SSP 102 in a Forward_Call response message, step 206. Further inresponse to the Termination_Attempt query, the SCP 106 will determine ifthe called party has set called party requirements for tailoring arequest message to be sent to the calling party. In one embodiment, theSCP 106 will examine account information stored at the database 108. Ifthe account information contains a special designator indicating thatthe called party has specified a customer selected request messageshould be used for the request message, the SCP 106 will pass callcontrol information in the Forward_Call response message indicating thisto the SSP 102.

In the illustrated embodiment using AIN elements, the response messageis formatted according to AIN Release 0.1 TCAP. The response messageincludes several parameters as is known to those ordinarily skilled inthe art.

In a first embodiment, for the Forward_Call query message, the followingparameters are specified:

CallingPartyID DN to which the TAT is assigned (Called DN from theTermination_Attempt query with presentation allowed) CalledPartyID LeadDN from the ISDN trunk group connecting the CSN; customer-selectedlanguage or format option PrimaryCarrier 0110 (LEC) AMAslpID 008780000(uniquely identifies a service and indicates flat rate)

Thus, in this first embodiment, the SCP 106 detects the CalledPartyIDparameter of the Termination_Attempt query received from the SSP 102. Asnoted above, this parameter is set to the DN of the called party, or thedirectory number of the called telephone station. The SCP 106 placesthis value in the Forward_Call response for the CallingPartyIDparameter. The CallingPartyID parameter of the Forward_Call response hasan associated Presentation Restriction Indicator parameter. The SCP 106marks this Presentation Restriction Indicator as presentation allowed.The SCP 106 sets a parameter in the call forward message indicating thata customer selected request message may be used for the input. Toindicate the customer-selected language or format option, an existingparameter of the Forward_Call query message is set to a predeterminedvalue. For example, this information may be incorporated in spare bitssuch as the last five digits of the CalledPartyID. Any other suitableparameter may be used for passing this information.

In a second embodiment, a different parameter is used in theForward_Call response message for communicating the called telephonestation's DN. This parameter is the RedirectingPartyID. In thisembodiment, the SCP 106 places the CalledPartyID DN from the TerminationAttempt query message into the RedirectingPartyID of the Forward_Callresponse message. The RedirectingPartyID has an associated PresentationRestriction Indicator parameter. The SCP 106 sets the associatedPresentation Restriction Indicator parameter to presentation allowed. Inthis embodiment, the Forward_Call query message has parameters specifiedas follows:

CallingPartyID DN of the Calling Party (if available) CalledPartyID LeadDN from the ISDN trunk group connecting the CSN PrimaryCarrier 0110(LEC) RedirectingPartyID DN to which the TAT is assigned (Called DN fromthe termination_attempt query) with presentation allowed (overwritesredirection information that the SSP would normally provide);customer-selected language or format option AMAslpID 008780000 (uniquelyidentifies a service and indicates flat rate)

To indicate the customer-selected language or format option, an existingparameter of the Forward_Call query message is set to a predeterminedvalue. For example, in this second embodiment, this information may beincorporated in spare bits such as the last five digits of theRedirectingPartyID. Any other suitable parameter may be used for passingthis information.

In this embodiment, the system and method may be used when the calledparty subscribes to a per line blocking service.

At step 208, the SSP 102 receives the Forward_Call response message andoriginates a new call for the forwarded leg. The SSP 102 merges the neworiginating call and the existing terminating call. That is, the SSP 102bridges or reconfigures the call. At this point, the SSP 102 routes thecall as if it received an Analyze_Route message, using the CalledPartyIDin the Forward_Call message to identify the new party. In the firstembodiment described above, the CallingPartyID is the DN to which thetermination attempt trigger is assigned. In the second embodiment, theredirecting number is the DN to which the termination attempt trigger isassigned. The SSP 102 forwards the call to the CSN 112.

At step 210, the forwarded call is answered by the CSN 112. The CSN 112is operative to generate an announcement that is transmitted to thecalling telephone station 118. In the illustrated embodiment, theannouncement is a request which is tailored according to called partyrequirements. One example of a suitable announcement is “The party youare calling does not accept calls from unidentified numbers. At thetone, say your name or the company you represent and your call will becompleted.” This may be the default message. In another example, at therequest of the customer or called party, announcements played to partiescalling the called party may be played in another language such asSpanish or may be sent to the calling party as text data or TDD data.Further, if the called communication station is a business line, amessage more suitable for a business customer of the called party may beplayed rather than the default message, which may be suitable for aresidence telephone. In another example, announcements, prompts ornotifications played to the called party may be tailored to vary fromdefault message at the customer's request. Non-default messages arespecified by the customer at the time the service is initiated. Thenature of the message is set by the parameter received in the callforward message.

After transmission of the announcement to the calling party, the CSN 112then detects a response. If the calling party provides a response, theresponse is recorded as audible caller identification information forsubsequent playback to the called party. If no response is provided, thecall is terminated.

At step 212, the CSN 112 originates a new call to the called telephonestation 116. In the first embodiment described above, the CSN 112originates the new call to the DN found in the CallingPartyID parameterof the Forward_Call response message. The parameter was set to the DN towhich the TAT is assigned. In the second embodiment described above, theCSN 112 originates the new call using the DN found in theRedirectingPartyID parameter of the Forward_Call response message. Theparameter was set to the DN to which the TAT is assigned.

At step 214, the SSP 102 recognizes that a terminating attempt trigger(TAT) is assigned to the called DN. Based on the TAT, the SSP 102creates a termination_attempt query message and transmits the querymessage to the SCP 106 for analysis. The parameters required for the AINrelease 0.1 TCAP query message in the illustrated embodiment are asfollows:

UserID DN to which the TAT is assigned (Called DN) BearerCapability 01(3.1 KHz) CalledPartyID DN to which the TAT is assigned (Called DN) LataLocal Access and Transport Area of the Called DN TriggerCriteriaType 15(Termination Attempt) CalledPartyStationType Originating Lineinformation of the called DN ChargeNumber ANI of the originatingfacility CallingPartyID DN of the calling party (CSN DN) PresentationRestriction 00 (Presentation Allowed) ChargePartyStationType OriginatingLine information of the calling DN

At step 216, the service logic of the SCP 106 will validate thePresentation Restriction Indicator of the CallingPartyID parameter ofthe query message. If the indicator is equal to Presentation Allowed,the SCP 106 will create an Authorize_Termination response message andsend it to the SSP 102. The parameters required for the AIN release 0.1TCAP response message in the illustrated embodiment are as follows:

CallingPartyID DN of the calling party (CSN DN) ChargeNumber ANI of thecalling party ChargePartyStationType Originating Line information of thecalling DN DisplayText CNAME information

At step 218, when the called party answers the called telephone station116, in the illustrated embodiment the CSN 112 first plays anidentifying message and requests a keypress input. This ensures that ahuman is present to answer the called telephone station 116 anddistinguishes the case where a modem, fax or other equipment answers thecalled telephone station 116. The identifying message may be in alanguage or format specified by the customer or called party at the timethe service is ordered. If the called party accepts the call, the CSN112 connects the original calling party at the calling telephone station118 to the called party at the called telephone station 116.

As can be seen from the foregoing, the present embodiments provide asystem and method for delivering audible caller identificationinformation when standard Caller ID information can not be provided andwith a message tailored to called party requirements. The SCP detectsthe directory number to which a terminating attempt trigger is assignedand places this directory number in a parameter for transmission to theSSP using a forward_call message. The SCP determines the nature of themessage that should be sent to the calling party to prompt the callingparty to provide audible caller identification information. The messagemay be sent in a particular language or according to any other suitablerequirements specified by the called party. When the called party isadvised of the incoming call, the message may further be tailored inaccordance with the customer's requirements. This message may be playingin a specified language or format, which may vary from the language orformat of the message played to the calling party.

It is to be understood that a wide range of changes and modifications tothe embodiments described above will be apparent to those skilled in theart and are contemplated. It is therefore intended that the foregoingdetailed description be regarded as illustrative rather than limiting,and that it be understood that it is the following claims, including allequivalents, that are intended to define the spirit and scope of theinvention.

We claim:
 1. A method for processing a call from a calling party at acalling communication station to a called party at a calledcommunication station, the method comprising: determining whetherstandard caller identification information for the calling communicationstation can be provided to the called communication station; detecting acustomer specified message designator of an account associated with oneof the called party and the called communication station, includingdetecting a text designator for transmission of signals for use by atelecommunication device for the deaf; in response to the customerspecified message designator, transmitting a verbal request for audiblecaller identification information to the calling communication stationwhen the standard caller identification information can not be providedto the called communication station; transmitting the audible calleridentification information to the called communication station;providing call disposition options to the called party at the calledcommunication station; and processing the call according to a selectedcall disposition option.